Flea and worming

We hear a lot of comments from clients suggesting that they check their pets regularly and never see fleas or worms, therefore they know there is no problem and their pet doesn’t need to be treated.

This is one of the biggest errors that can be made in standard pet ownership preventative care.

It is also commonly encountered that people believe them to be seasonal. Again, this is not the case – with the advent of central heating, fleas can survive year-round to be a constant pesky irritation to our pets and us!

Fleas

Fleas can cause a problem with even a single flea jumping onto our pet, and worms often only shed tiny microscopic eggs or larvae in your pets faeces – so not many owners have a close enough relationship to their pet to detect these (for the best!).

You may not always see visible outward signs of fleas. Common signs include constant scratching, or increased grooming/overgrooming of certain areas, hair loss on lower back, lower abdomen or base of tail, or small scabby lesions on the skin.

A good way to check for fleas is to use a flea comb routinely, as this will pick up particles of flea poo if present. A good way to test if it is flea poo or mud is to run it through a white paper towel – flea poo will leave a red/brown streak as it is digested blood.

Once fleas get into the house, it can be hard to manage the burden with pet treatments alone. Whilst fleas prefer to survive on the blood from our pets, they will happily survive on us if there is no other option. There are a range of household flea treatments available if there is a significant issue in the house: please ask one of the team if you have any questions.

We have a number of flea products available for your pets, some tablet-based, others that are applied to the back of the neck and also an injection for cats which makes the whole process much less stressful for you and them.

They also come in different preparations that can last between one and three months for tablets and spot-ons, so we can find an appropriate option to suit your pet and your lifestyle. 

We routinely send out text or email reminders to tell you when these are due to be applied too.

Worms

The main reason people see worms in their pet’s faeces is:

- They have tapeworms – where the small, white rice-shaped product, a glottid, is passed, which is actually just a section of the tapeworm residing inside your pet.

- They have a heavy burden of roundworms.

- They pick up whip worm where you can see them crawling around your pet’s anus.

- They have recently had an effective worm treatment that kills the worms causing them to detach from inside.

Routine worm control is an important part of responsible pet ownership, as not only can the presence of worms be detrimental for your pet e.g. weight loss, lethargy, vomiting/diarrhoea etc, but some worms can infect people too, causing blindness, particularly in children.

Worm control can be adapted depending on the needs and lifestyle of your pet. Most are tablet-based and to be used every three to six months. We do have a spot-on range of wormers for cats to be used every three months if tabletting your moody moggy is too difficult. Alternatively, you can ask your vet or nurse to administer a tablet if you have difficulty. Again, we will send out text/email reminders when these are due.